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Description
Synthetic pesticide usage is a relatively recent invention of industry that has been proven to have widespread biological effects. Many families of pesticides have unique properties including solubility in water and long half-lives. This ability to be soluble in water paired with a long half-life result in a pesticide that is perfectly suited to contaminate water designated for human or agricultural use. Solid-phase extraction is a preparatory technique of analytical chemistry in which a liquid sample is passed through a solid material that selectively retains compounds for further analysis. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography is an analytical chemistry technique that can quantify analytes. The purpose of this project was to determine the concentration of certain pesticides in the watershed of Rowan County and compare them to international and national standards of pesticide concentrations. The motivation of this project stemmed from the negative effects that can be caused by over ingestion of pesticides on biological systems specifically in human organisms. A second motivating factor is the novelty of this research due to the lack of data in this region in recent years. The region this project took place has consistently shown some of the highest rates of chronic health issues in the United States. While there are many confounding variables and causality cannot be assumed, we hoped that this project may stem interest and further research into the issue of pesticide contamination.
Publication Date
4-16-2025
Disciplines
Higher Education | Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Recommended Citation
Blevins, Jacob and Schmittzehe-Skarbek, Emmalou, "Determination of Synthetic Pesticide Concentration in Bodies of Water in Rowan County Kentucky" (2025). 2025 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations. 13.
https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2025/13